A brief overview of UK copyright, its legal framework and how to avoid falling foul of it, based on an in-house training course I gave in 2012.

1. An
Introduction
to
Copyright
and how to avoid
falling foul of it
© James Carney 2012

2. What we’ll cover today:
1. Terminology and background
2. The basic legal framework
3. Types of copyright
4. Top 10 copyright myths

3. Does copyright
really matter?
Ask the following
people...

5. Some definitions...

6. intellectual
property?

7. Intellectual
property (or IP) =
Any creative work
which can be treated
as an asset or
physical property.

8. 4 types of IP rights:
Trademarks
® or ™

9. 4 types of IP rights:
™
Patents
or

10. 4 types of IP rights:
Design
rights™
® or

11. 4 types of IP rights:
Patents
Copyright
™
or

12. Copyright
“a collection of rights in
certain creative works,
granted exclusively to the
copyright owner to allow
them to control and profit
from how their work is used”

13. Identifed by
© ℗
Copyright Phonographic
Copyright

14. In the UK, copyright is
governed by the Copyright,
Designs and Patent Act 1988
The UK is also a signatory
to the Berne Convention for
the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works 1886

15. Key points
Copyright is automatic
Copyright is vested in the
the author of the work (the
First Owner) unless done as
an employee or assigned
under the terms of a
commission
Copyright is international

16. Copyright applies to
Literary Type
works arrangements
of published
Dramatic works
works
Sound
Musical recordings
works
Artistic Films
works

17. Copyright lasts for
70
Literary Type
years 25
arrangements
works
of years
published
70
Dramatic works
years
works
70
Sound
70
Musical years
recordings
years
works
70
Artistic 70
Films
years
works years

18. Copyright lasts for
Crown 125
Copyright years
Parliamentary 50
Copyright years

19. While copyright lasts
you can’t
Copy, rent, lend or issue
copies of the work to the
public
Perform, broadcast or show
the work in public
Adapt the work
Infringe the author’s moral
rights

20. You may use the work of
others if
Copyright has expired
Your use of the work is
covered by ‘fair dealing’
You have licensed the work
from an acknowledged scheme
The copyright holder has
granted you permission

21. Fair use
Research and private study
Instruction or examination
Criticism or review
News reporting
Incidental inclusion
Accessibility for visual
impairment

22. Licensing schemes
Copyright Licensing Agency(CLA)
Design and Artists Copyright
Society (DACS)
Educational Recording Agency
Performing Right Society for
Music / Public Performance
Licence
Creative Commons (CC)

24. “The judgement should be studied by anyone
imitating an existing photograph or
commissioning a photograph based on a similar
photograph. ‘Inspiration’ and ‘reference’ are
fine in themselves, but there is a line between
copying ideas and copying the original
expression of ideas which is often a difficult
one to draw.”

25. Top 10
Copyright Myths

26. Myth 1
Anything without a
© symbol isn’t protected

27. Myth 2
It wasn’t originally published
in the UK so UK copyright
law doesn’t apply

28. Myth 3
It’s ok to use copyright material
if I don’t make money from it

29. Myth 4
I can’t find who owns the
copyright so it’ll be ok to use
it in the meantime

30. Myth 5
I’ve got permission to use it on
the web so it’ll probably be ok
to use in in print as well

31. Myth 6
I can copy up to 10% without
infringing copyright

32. Myth 7
We can embed that YouTube
video even if it has a Beatles
soundtrack

33. Myth 8
It’s hard to prove copyright
infringement

34. Myth 9
If it’s on the web, it must
be in the public domain

35. Myth 10
No one will
ever find out

36. Thank you!